Wood burning stoves have become increasingly popular in recent years, and often, wood burning stoves are used to replace fireplaces as a means of heating a residence. Most fireplaces are placed in residences for aesthetic and decorative reasons, but when a fireplace is used in conjunction with a central heating system, the fireplace may actually increase the cost of heating the home by drawing more hot air up the chimney than the fireplace produces. Energy conscious homeowners often desire to burn wood more efficiently than in the fireplace.
One solution to this problem is to utilize a wood burning stove in front of the fireplace and use the chimney as an exhaust system. In such case, a panel is placed over the opening of the fireplace, and the stovepipe discharges through the panel into the enclosed fireplace. The panel covering the fireplace opening is usually custom made since different types of stoves locate the stovepipe connection at different heights and different lateral positions. Also, fireplaces often have elevated hearths of varying heights that will vary the height of the stovepipe connection relative to the fireplace.
To accommodate the various heights of stovepipe connections, there is a need for an adjustable fireplace panel with an aperture for receiving a stovepipe that may be easily adjusted vertically and horizontally to receive stovepipes at an infinity of different positions within a preselected range. Such a panel would eliminate the expense of custom fabricating a panel for each stove and fireplace combination, speed installation of the stove since it is not necessary to delay installation while a custom panel is fabricated, and enable homeowner to install the panel himself.